revolutionize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
revolutionizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
revolutionized,
past participle, past
-
revolutionizing
present participle
-
to bring about a revolution in; effect a radical change in.
to revolutionize petroleum refining methods.
-
to subject to a political revolution.
verb
-
to bring about a radical change in
science has revolutionized civilization
-
to inspire or infect with revolutionary ideas
they revolutionized the common soldiers
-
to cause a revolution in (a country, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
revolutionizesimple
-
revolutionizessimple
-
have revolutionizedperfect
-
has revolutionizedperfect
-
am revolutionizingprogressive
-
are revolutionizingprogressive
-
is revolutionizingprogressive
-
have been revolutionizingperfect progressive
-
has been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Past
-
revolutionizedsimple
-
had revolutionizedperfect
-
was revolutionizingprogressive
-
were revolutionizingprogressive
-
had been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of revolutionize
First recorded in 1790–1800; revolution + -ize
Explanation
Revolutionize, a verb, means "to make a major change," like in the 1990s, when the Internet revolutionized how people communicated, got information and even did their jobs. Things were never the same again. Use revolutionize to describe something that is completely transformed. Originally, it meant "to bring about sweeping political change," like people who band together and fight to revolutionize a nation, with the end result being a new party in power or new philosophies about things like land ownership or tax collection put in place. In time, it also came to mean even nonpolitical change, like the digital music player, which revolutionized how people get and listen to music.
Vocabulary lists containing revolutionize
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center" by John F. Kennedy
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Hey, Kiddo
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Compare that to Mark Zuckerberg, a similarly self-aggrandizing figure who claims to be working on a project that will revolutionize art, commerce and the way that the average person engages with the world.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
The authors enthused that the partnership "showcased how innovative approaches, even involving unconventional collaborators, can revolutionize oceanographic research."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Unified hired to provide an artificial intelligence chatbot named Ed, which was touted as a tool that would revolutionize school-to-family interactions and students’ academic experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Sea drone attacks have largely been pioneered by Ukraine, which has sought to revolutionize naval warfare in the same way unmanned aerial vehicles have transformed the skies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
But it would also revolutionize the ordinary person’s understanding of the laws that govern the universe.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
"This research revolutionizes our understanding of the jugal bone in snake and non-snake lizards," said Michael Caldwell, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and a co-author on the study.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026
Maybe that’s the real magic of a tool like this: not that it revolutionizes your cooking, but that it makes the most ordinary meal feel new again.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
And, just like that, he revolutionizes the sport of shot put.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2024
He believes he has now found it, with the help of a retired quarterback and a drone engineer, and hopes it revolutionizes the way hockey players at all levels train in the gym.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
The spread of Roman influence around the borders of the Mediterranean produced a tendency to homogeneous thought eminently dangerous to the many forms of faith professed by so many different people. and revolutionizes religious ideas.
From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by John William Draper
"GLP-1-based medications have revolutionized the therapy of obesity. We now have a very effective pharmacotherapy for achieving significant weight loss," Petersen says.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
While Brooks served his life sentence, the criminal justice system was being revolutionized through the introduction of DNA evidence and, with it, proof that innocent people had been convicted.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
His research revolutionized the treatment of mental illness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Millions of Americans have tried the drugs, which have revolutionized the way physicians treat weight loss, but personalizing who gets which drugs is still a long way off — if it ever happens.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
In 1927 he made an improvement that revolutionized the building of racing shells in America.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
ChatGPT-style AI is revolutionizing the world of high-level math by quickly solving famous, long-unsolved problems that stumped experts for decades.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ted Turner created CNN in 1980, revolutionizing the way America, and the world, got their news, and then went on to become one of the most prominent business leaders and philanthropists of his era.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
With drones revolutionizing the battlefield in Ukraine, Iran and beyond, the U.S. is striving to dominate this latest evolution in military technology the way it has with previous wartime innovations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
"For all the talk about how AI is revolutionizing science, there are very few examples where something fundamentally new has been found directly by an AI system," Nemenman says.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026
He’s adamant about changing education, and we’re adamant about revolutionizing it.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
